We were homeless for 17 months after spending £115K on dream family home renovation…cowboy builder left us in purgatory
A COUPLE who forked out £115,000 on their dream family home have been plunged into debt and left living like nomads for 17 months.
The family's life was turned upside down after their rogue builder quit while their hole-filled house was still windowless, damp and uninhabitable.
Zeeshan Noorani, 37, a transition coordinator at Reading College, and his wife Gosia, 41, a technical administrator at ACT Systems Ltd, were left with a leaking roof and no windows when their builder, who came recommended, walked out.
The couple and their two daughters, Clara, five, and Sophia, three, who has Down’s syndrome, have had no fixed address for nearly two years.
During this time, they have lived with friends, family, in an Airbnb and a two-star hotel.
The “horrific” situation has heaped huge pressure on the family, with Zeeshan suffering a nervous breakdown.
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Not only this, but their eldest daughter Clara has also been taken out of school.
Zeeshan has reported the cowboy builder, who is not being named, to Trading Standards.
He has also contacted the local council and police about the issues they have faced but was told it is a civil matter.
To make their home liveable, the couple have been forced to borrow £75,000.
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They have also hired another builder who they said is “amazing”.
The family confirmed that they are still £8,000 short of the cost for the new work.
As a result, they have launched an online fundraiser to help finish their four-bedroom mid-terrace home – which was originally supposed to be completed in December 2022.
Zeeshan told PA Real Life: “I don’t really know the words to describe it – dire, horrendous, horrific, all match up to where we are now.
“It felt like we were living in purgatory, being stuck in a hotel room.”
Not only this, but Zeeshan stressed the “horrendous mess” that they are now in.
He continued: “Then we exited it and everyone’s life is moving on and we’re just in this absolute turmoil of just, horrendous mess.
“And the worst thing is that it was done to us.
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“It wasn’t like we went out on a mad holiday to the Maldives and blew it all.”
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